Going Linux on somewhat old Netbook

[isobel]

I have not used any kind of linux before, so... treat me gently please.

I have a netbook, L500X Geode (498MHz) 480Mb Ram and 40Gb Hdd partitioned into two 20 Gb bits, and I want to install linux on it as a dual boot along side the winxp that is already in place. I tried the Netbook remix of the latest Ubuntu and Fedora 12 with no success at all. I'm beginning to wonder if this tiny old machine can run linux at all.

Well.. Can it? And if it can, how?

Thank you.

[coopstah13]

What kind of trouble are you facing? You haven't detailed your problem, so we cannot help you until you do.

Most of the time, people are putting linux on old hardware because windows no longer will run on it well.

[isobel]

What kind of trouble are you facing? You haven't detailed your problem, so we cannot help you until you do.

Most of the time, people are putting linux on old hardware because windows no longer will run on it well.

Sorry. I meant that I could not install either Ubuntu or Fedora. And by the way, Winxp runs without trouble. But the reason I'd like a go with linux is that as you can imagine, it is rather sluggish. It is to be expected, given that the system is rather.. let's just say that it was built on a budget. It has always been somewhat slugghish, so that is nothing new-I mean that Winxp giving me trouble so I'm gonna use linux is not my motivation. I thought that sluggishness was because the Winxp has a lot of 'not necessarily necessary features that I do not have control over' and I hoped/suspected that linux may let me get around that. Plus I just wanted to try the thing.

Here is what happened to me when I tried to install linux.
First with the Ubuntu, I downloaded the netbook remix and made the bootable USB. The USB was recognised fine and the intallation began. For a while it seemed ok, with all that 'white letters on black screen' which said presumably important things but I could not understand any of those. Anyhow.. at certain point it just.. stopped. Just black screen with nothing on it and that was that. Then I gave it another go, but this time I mounted the image on the winxp using daemon tool (latest version) and this time at least the installation went (I thought) ok (but at this point as you may have noticed my sense of linux going ok is.. unreliable at best). And when I tried to boot the system, there even was the dual boot choice screen. But the ubuntu option just refused to work-it just gave me black screen with nothing on it. I got frustrated and deleted the thing. But that dual boot screen still appears everytime I turn on the system.

Now with Fedora 12. First I (stupidly) tried to install the x86-64 version and failed, obviously (this is the only system I have ever owned/managed that runs a AMD CPU, so.. that was another newbie mistake). Then I tried i386 version. Actually, L500X is a i586 chipset. But a google search told me it would be fine. But it wasn't. Unlike the x86 version which just said 'you got the wrong thing', it actually started the installation process, or it seemed to me that way, and then that dreaded black screen of nothing came.

I hope this is detailed enough to get some advice. Thanks.

[rokytnji]

Hi Isobel, Since you are running a 500 mhz processor. And the rest of your specs seem ok to run what I am going to suggest. why not give AntiX 8.2 a spin running as live USB beofre installing. It is debian based like Ubuntu. And runs fast and respectable on my P2, 256 mb ram (with swap partition done when I install) on my IBM Laptops.

In the Downloads directory. Pick the one that says 8.2 iso. Not the base iso. Base iso is for advanced users.

[rokytnji]

Another distro I run that I could suggest also. Would be a frugal install of LightHouse Puppy Linux or Macpup Puppy Linux. They will also run live off of pendrive and install from Pendrive also. You will be suprised with the speed on your netbook.

What ever you decide to go with. You will enjoy the speed. And just because these say Puppy Linux. Don't be fooled into thinking they are not a full featured Bleeding edge Distro. I have Skype,Firefox 3.6 and Opera 10.10, Gimp 2.6, EI7/Enlightenment Desktop,KDE 4 Desktop, along with Jims Window Manger as a choice also. Open Office and a lot other Puppy Pet packages are available at Murga linux which is a vibrant community.

Vector Linux May be another viable option for you.

Also google for lightweight linux distros or use the search box in the forum .

[isobel]

Thank you, rokytnji. That really is a lot of help. I think I'm gonna try Macpuppy-shiny look won me over. Unfortunately I've got a ton of work this week, so macpuppy is gonna have to wait a few days. Thanks again in the mean time.